Anglo-Chinese Wars were conflicts in China over the control of seaports and the trade in opium, a powerful drug. In the First Anglo-Chinese War (1839-1842), British forces crushed Chinese resistance to the opium trade and took the island of Hong Kong. In the Second Anglo-Chinese War (1856-1860), a combined British and French force defeated the Chinese. Following the second war, the opium trade became legal, and Chinese ports were opened to foreign travel and trade. The Anglo-Chinese Wars are sometimes called the Opium Wars.
The First Anglo-Chinese War.
The Chinese government had outlawed opium in 1729. However, European traders continued to smuggle the drug in and out of China. They traded large quantities of the drug for Chinese tea, silk, and other goods. In 1839, Chinese officials tried to stop the illegal trade by seizing thousands of chests of opium from British merchants in the port city of Guangzhou.
In June 1840, British troops attacked Guangzhou while British warships bombarded forts and other port cities. Chinese forces were no match for the modern firepower of the British, who quickly took Hong Kong and Shanghai. In August 1842, the Chinese signed the Treaty of Nanjing. The treaty opened four new ports, including Shanghai, to the British and allowed them to keep the island of Hong Kong. China was also forced to make reparations (payments for damages).
The Second Anglo-Chinese War.
In 1856, Chinese officials arrested sailors from the Hong Kong ship Arrow on suspicion of smuggling and piracy. The British considered this action a treaty violation and bombarded forts and cities on China’s southeastern coast. France joined in the British war effort after a French missionary was murdered in China. The combined British and French forces captured Guangzhou in 1857. A treaty briefly ended the fighting and opened several more ports to foreign trade.
Despite the treaty, China reinforced its forts at Tianjin, near Beijing, and refused to allow British and French diplomats to land. In 1859, fighting resumed. China initially prevented a British and French force from landing at Tianjin. In 1860, a larger force tried again and succeeded.
The British and French marched toward Beijing, destroying Chinese forces at the Battle of Palikao. British and French troops then looted and burned Beijing’s Old Summer Palace. In October 1860, a new treaty stopped the fighting. The agreement confirmed an 1858 treaty, which legalized the opium trade and permitted foreign travel within China. It also gave the British control of the Kowloon Peninsula (now part of Hong Kong) and forced China to pay reparations.
The Anglo-Chinese Wars and the unequal treaties that followed them were disastrous for China. To recover from these setbacks, the country began in the 1860’s a long program to modernize its industries and military. The effort became known as China’s self-strengthening movement.
See also China (Clash with the Western powers) ; Opium .
